2020 US Open – Men's singles explained

Score:	2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6^(8–6)
Draw:	128 (8)
Seeds:	32

See main article: article and 2020 US Open (tennis).

Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev in the final, 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6^(8–6) to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2020 US Open.^[1] It was his first major title, following three previous runner-up finishes. Thiem became the first man to come back from two sets down in a US Open final in the Open Era, the first to do so overall since 1949, and the first to do so in any major final since Gastón Gaudio at the 2004 French Open.^[2] ^[3] Both players served for the championship in the final set (Zverev at 5–3 and Thiem at 6–5), but both were broken at 30. This was the first time in history that the US Open title was decided by a fifth set tie-break, 50 years after the rule was introduced in 1970.^[4]

Thiem's victory made him the first Austrian to win a singles major since Thomas Muster at the 1995 French Open, the first man born in the 1990s to win a singles major, and the first new male major singles champion since Marin Čilić won the 2014 US Open. The gap between Čilić and Thiem's titles was the longest between two new major singles champions in the history of men's tennis, surpassing the previous longest gap between Juan Martín del Potro and Andy Murray respectively at the 2009 and 2012 editions of the US Open. Zverev became the youngest male finalist at a major since Novak Djokovic at the 2010 US Open and the first German to reach a major final since Rainer Schüttler at the 2003 Australian Open.

Rafael Nadal was the reigning champion, but chose not to participate due to both safety concerns related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the short amount of time between the US Open and the rescheduled European clay season.^[5] ^[6] ^[7] This marked the first time since the 1999 US Open that both Nadal and Roger Federer (who was recovering from a knee surgery) were absent from a major.^[8]

There were no qualifiers this year. The ATP rankings valid on August 3 (being the rankings from March 16) were used to determine the main-draw entry list.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreño Busta. After being broken to trail 6–5 in the first set, Djokovic frustratedly hit a ball towards the baseline. This ball accidentally hit a lineswoman in the throat.^[9] Djokovic's unbeaten 26–0 2020 season, as well as his 29-match winning streak (extending back to the 2019 Davis Cup Finals), ended as a result. Djokovic became the first player to be defaulted from a major since Stefan Koubek at the 2000 French Open.^[10]

Djokovic's ejection from the tournament guaranteed a first-time major finalist in the top half of the draw. His disqualification also meant this would be the first major since the 2004 French Open not to feature either Djokovic, Federer or Nadal in the semifinals, the first major since the 2003 Wimbledon Championships in which none of the quarterfinalists had previously won a major, and the first major men's singles tournament not to have been won by Djokovic, Federer or Nadal since Stan Wawrinka in the 2016 US Open final.^[11] This also guaranteed a first-time major champion in men's singles for the first time since the 2014 tournament. Additionally, it meant this would be the first major won by someone under the age of 30 since the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. For the first time in major history, all of the male quarterfinalists were born in the 1990s.^[12]

Seeds

All seedings per ATP rankings.^[13]

Draw

Top half

Section 4

Bottom half

Section 8

Players

Seeded players

More information on seeded players
Seed	Rank	Player	Points before	Points defending	Points won	Points after	Status
1	1	Novak Djokovic	10,860	180	0	10,860	Fourth round, defaulted against Pablo Carreño Busta [20]
2	3	Dominic Thiem	7,135	10	2,000	9,125	Champion, defeated Alexander Zverev [5]
3	5	Daniil Medvedev	5,890	1,200	720	5,890	Semifinals, lost to Dominic Thiem [2]
4	6	Stefanos Tsitsipas	5,095	10	90	5,175	Third round, lost to Borna Ćorić [27]
5	7	Alexander Zverev	3,630	180	1,200	4,650	Final, lost to Dominic Thiem [2]
6	8	Matteo Berrettini	2,940	720	180	2,940	Fourth round, lost to Andrey Rublev [10]
7	10	David Goffin	2,555	180	180	2,555	Fourth round, lost to Denis Shapovalov [12]
8	11	Roberto Bautista Agut	2,540	10	90	2,620	Third round, lost to Vasek Pospisil
9	13	Diego Schwartzman	2,265	360	10	2,265	First round, lost to Cameron Norrie
10	14	Andrey Rublev	2,234	180	360	2,414	Quarterfinals, lost to Daniil Medvedev [3]
11	16	Karen Khachanov	2,120	10	90	2,200	Third round, lost to Alex de Minaur [21]
12	17	Denis Shapovalov	2,075	90	360	2,345	Quarterfinals, lost to Pablo Carreño Busta [20]
13	19	Cristian Garín	1,900	45	45	1,900
14	20	Grigor Dimitrov	1,885	720	45	1,885	Second round, lost to Márton Fucsovics
15	21	Félix Auger-Aliassime	1,806	10	180	1,976	Fourth round, lost to Dominic Thiem [2]
16	22	John Isner	1,805	90	10	1,805	First round, lost to Steve Johnson
17	23	~~Benoît Paire~~	1,738	45	0	1,738	Withdrew and tested positive for COVID-19
18	24	Dušan Lajović	1,695	45	10	1,695	First round, lost to Egor Gerasimov
19	25	Taylor Fritz	1,545	10	90	1,625	Third round, lost to Denis Shapovalov [12]
20	27	Pablo Carreño Busta	1,500	90	720	2,130	Semifinals, lost to Alexander Zverev [5]
21	28	Alex de Minaur	1,485	180	360	1,665	Quarterfinals, lost to Dominic Thiem [2]
22	30	Nikoloz Basilashvili	1,395	90	10	1,395	First round, lost to John Millman
23	31	Dan Evans	1,384	90	45	1,384	Second round, lost to Corentin Moutet
24	33	Hubert Hurkacz	1,353	10	45	1,388	Second round, lost to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
25	18	Milos Raonic	1,950	0	45	1,995	Second round, lost to Vasek Pospisil
26	26	Filip Krajinović	1,503	10	90	1,583	Third round, lost to David Goffin [7]
27	32	Borna Ćorić	1,355	45	360	1,670	Quarterfinals, lost to Alexander Zverev [5]
28	29	Jan-Lennard Struff	1,405	45	90	1,450	Third round, lost to Novak Djokovic [1]
29	36	Guido Pella	1,310	10	10	1,310	First round, lost to J. J. Wolf [WC]
30	37	Casper Ruud	1,279	10	90	1,359	Third round, lost to Matteo Berrettini [6]
31	38	Marin Čilić	1,225	180	90	1,225	Third round, lost to Dominic Thiem [2]
32	39	Adrian Mannarino	1,191	10	90	1,271	Third round, lost to Alexander Zverev [5]